


Dimensions

by TheStrangeSeaWolf



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, F/M, Father-Daughter Relationship, Fluff, Fluff and Porridge (it's a shame that this tag doesn't exist), Fluff and emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Hugs, Kid Fic, One Shot, Porridge, Scary Smiles, Smile, whouffaldi (if you squint)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-14
Updated: 2020-03-14
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:49:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,771
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23141971
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheStrangeSeaWolf/pseuds/TheStrangeSeaWolf
Summary: Sooo… InsideTheTardis recently had the idea that her OC Elyne, adopted in herChaotic Space Family AUby Season 10 Twelve could accidentally land earlier and meet Season 8 Twelve and Clara. The circumstances are still to be revealed. However, her drawing of Elyne missing her Daddy’s pillow-tummy inspired me to write this one-shot.
Relationships: Twelfth Doctor & Clara Oswin Oswald, Twelfth Doctor/Clara Oswin Oswald
Comments: 5
Kudos: 17





	Dimensions

**Author's Note:**

  * For [InsideTheTardis](https://archiveofourown.org/users/InsideTheTardis/gifts).



“You take care of her while I buy the necessary things!” Clara insisted.

“But you are a schoolteacher, you are much better with children than I. And I have a TARDIS, I can get the most advanced children… thingies… in this universe!” The Doctor gesticulated widely, indicating the size of the universe.

“Children thingies? What children thingies would you fetch?”

“Well… children thingies, you know? Like… uhm… a toy spaceship. And food. Lots of food. She’s small, she needs to grow. So, probably fish fingers will be good. And maybe hotdogs and hamburgers. And cookies, lots of cookies…”

“See, you have no idea what to fetch. So, you stay here, and I will go down to the mall and buy some clothes for her to change into and some healthy food. I don’t think you are willing to share your stash of porridge oats, right?”

Until now the Time Lord had looked extremely grumpy. Now, his attack eyebrows relaxed and his whole expression became soft.

“You think she likes porridge?”

“Well, I don’t know, but I assume.”

“I like porridge!” The Doctor exclaimed with such ceremonious gravity that Clara had difficulties to keep a straight face.

“Oh yes, I know. Which is why the TARDIS has a whole room with porridge oats and milk.”

“Emergency supplies!”

“Yeah, right. Okay, so you stay here is settled, then?”

The Time Lord nodded his agreement.

“Okay… try not to scare her to death while I’m away, okay?”

“What do you mean?”

“Oh, well, not telling her that the universe is full of monsters and everything and everybody will inevitably die would be a start.”

“Jotted down.”

“And… well, be careful with smiling!”

“What’s wrong with me smiling?”

“Nothing, Doctor. It’s just… it can be scary for someone who is small…”

“You are small. Don’t tell me my smile scares you?”

“Oh, shut up, not that way small… small like a child! Young! Small, little, young children!”

“Okay, what’s wrong with my smile?”

“Sorry, but it is scary. It’s like your face is all teeth. Like Dracula… or an insane werewolf!”

“Oh yes? That’s a very rude thing to say and you tell _me_ that _I’m_ rude! I don’t ask _you_ to stop that scary thing with inflating your eyes to not scare the little children!”

“But you do. You tell me all the time to stop it with the eyes!”

“That’s different!”

“Ah, how’s _that_ different?”

“I ask you to stop it because it scares this Time Lord! Clara, what if your eyes suddenly pop out of your head and drop to the floor? Now, that would be really scary!”

“Doctor don’t be ridiculous. And if you look at me like that, I am scared that your eyebrows will fall off and attack someone!”

They both stared at each other for a moment until Clara started giggling and the Doctor started grinning.

“Just try to be your best, Doctor. I know you can do that. You are great with Courtney Woods, so I am sure you can be a good babysitter. And I won’t be away for too long.”

The Doctor blushed and Clara headed for the door before he could think of another reason to avoid looking after the little girl who had suddenly appeared and turned their life upside down.

The Doctor stared after Clara, then went to the living room. The small girl sat in the corner of the sofa on his favorite spot, knees drawn to her body. This was _his_ spot and that someone occupied it added to his general confusion.

This whole situation was odd. There was this girl which was – according to the TARDIS – half Human, half Igneos, which was impossible as far as his understanding of biology went. Then, the little girl insisted that he was her Daddy. Which was rubbish, because he was a Time Lord. And now Clara had left him alone to take care of the child. How do you take care of a child? Sure, he had been a father before, but this was centuries ago and Gallifreyan children’s needs were sure very different from what Human-Igneos-Hybrids needed.

He sat down on the sofa and avoided looking at the child. Maybe if he ignored her the problem would go away. He stared to the TV for a while, not realizing it was turned off. But he felt that two eyes were examining him from the side. A stare that felt hot on his cheek.

He slowly turned his head to meet those two amber eyes. The girl immediately looked down and hid her face in her arms. He hadn’t even smiled, why was she scared of him? He turned his head again to stare some more to the TV. Immediately he felt her eyes on his cheek again. He turned his head – she hid her face.

Perhaps he should try a smile? But Clara said his smile was scary, so perhaps not? He was uncomfortable with the whole situation and her piercing amber eyes scared him. Maybe he should try to talk to her?

“Why are you staring at me but don’t look at me when I look at you?”

Two amber eyes slowly rose from her arms and examined him.

“Scary,” she mumbled.

“I scare you when I look at you?”

“Uh-hu,” she nodded.

“Well, you scare me, too, if you do that.”

The amber eyes grew even bigger. Was the human female ability to let their eyes inflate such a dominant trait that it even influenced Igneos eyes? It very much seemed like it. This was interesting.

“S…scare you?” a small voice asked.

“Yes. When I look at you, you don’t look at me, but when I don’t look at you, you look at me. And you look at me as if you want to stab me with your eyes!”

“But… I can’t scare you!”

Her voice came hesitantly, but it sounded like she made up her mind after some serious thoughts.

“Sure, you can scare me. Why wouldn’t you be able to scare me?”

“Because I’m small and you are so mighty!”

Mighty? Did she say mighty? He didn’t feel mighty. Large in comparison to her, maybe. Confused and out of his depths, for sure. But not mighty.

“I’m larger than you. But that doesn’t mean you can’t scare me. Little things can be much more scary than large things. Think scorpions. Or viruses. Or toxic death-ray mutant spiders from Ghandar 5!”

She looked at him wide-eyed. Oh, right, this was probably one of those remarks Clara had told him to avoid… Ah, well, maybe Clara wasn’t always right. Maybe that little amber-eyed Hybrid… Baby? Thingy? Daughter?... could help him figure it out.

“So… hmmm… I need you to tell me something. Clara told me I scare people when I smile. Would you dare to look at me when I smile and tell me if it scares you?”

The eyes grew even wider. He seriously feared they would pop out of her face.

“Okay!” She nodded.

“Okay, smiling in three… two… one…” he counted and burst into the kindest smile he could manage.

She looked at him and beamed back.

“Daddy!”

Ah, well, seems his little human control freak had been wrong about his smile. He still was not sure why that little girl called him Daddy, but it was obvious that he didn’t scare her with his smile. His smile grew even wider.

“So… you are not scared when I smile at you?”

“Uh-uh,” she shook her little head.

“Are you still scared of me?”

She frowned as if she were in deep thoughts and looked at him from head to toes.

“Uh-uh, not scared. You are my Daddy!”

She finally stated with great sincerity. Her words filled him with an inexplicable feeling of warmth and pride.

“Hmmm, okay, I still don’t know why I am your Daddy, but if I am, fine. But it has been a long time… What do Daddys do?”

“Give hugs!”

She exclaimed, crawling nearer to his side.

Oh no. The thing he felt most insecure about. He closed his eyes. He didn’t want to disappoint her, yet, he didn’t know what to do and how. So, he just sat there and grew stiff, hoping it would be over, soon.

He felt a little hand patting his stomach. He opened one eye, then the other and looked down to see a shock of light brown hair.

“Something wrong?” He realized he had forgotten her name. Or hadn’t she told him? “Little one?” He added for the lack of a name and because he found it a fitting nickname.

“No pillow,” she stated matter-of-factly.

“Pillow?” He asked confused.

“Yes. Your tummy is a pillow. And it’s missing!”

“Ah? You think we should do something about that?” He asked with a sigh of relief, because he sensed an escape out of the hugging business.

She looked up at him.

“Do something about it?”

“Hmmm… yes, yes, I think we should do that. Add something to make my tummy more pillow-like. Do you like porridge?”

“With sugar and cinnamon?” She asked.

“What use is porridge without sugar and cinnamon?” he asked the small girl with a twinkle in his eyes.

“Yay!” She squealed.

He smiled when he got up and held out his hand so his… daughter… could grab it and follow him to Clara’s kitchen.

When Clara returned home, she discovered her kitchen was a battlefield of what must have been the largest porridge battle in history. She sighed and went to the living room to tell the Doctor that he better moved his superior Time Lord arse to clean up the mess otherwise he would discover that this was an extremely small universe when she was mad at him.

She found the TV switched to the Disney Channel airing “Brother Bear”. On the sofa was a “not a hugger” Time Lord tightly asleep, a small girl resting on his tummy, his arm securely wrapped around her shoulders.

Clara smiled a warm smile at the scene. Then, she carefully put a small blanket over the girl’s body. She felt the urge to place a kiss on the head of her impossible, stupid, rude, touch-aversive, uptight stick-insect of a Time Lord, who had two hearts that were a lot bigger on the inside. Larger than this universe, in fact.

She decided against it so she wouldn’t disturb his sleep and the peaceful scene. She went to clean the kitchen before the oats and the milk would form an inseparable bonding with various kitchen surfaces.

It was quite a task, but still, she couldn’t stop smiling.

**Author's Note:**

> The porridge topic might have been inspired by an interview with Peter Capaldi where he mentions that he doesn’t understand why all the food in cinemas is noisy, and porridge would be the better alternative.
> 
> Side note: Yes, I have a tendency to lay waste to kitchens when they appear in my fanfics. Some say I have that tendency with real world kitchens, too, but that's fake news.


End file.
